LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- For the first time in his two-decade music career, British pop star George Michael told CNN in an exclusive interview late Friday that he is gay.

"This is as good of a time as any," he told CNN's Jim Moret. "I want to say that I have no problem with people knowing that I'm in a relationship with a man right now. I have not been in a relationship with a woman for almost 10 years."

Asked why he felt compelled to open up a part of his private life, Michael said, "I feel because I've already kind of done that -- haven't I? I've done that in a way I didn't really intend to."

The singer's comments came after a trying week in which he was booked for investigation of misdemeanor lewd conduct and released on $500 bail. Michael, 34, was alone in the restroom of a Beverly Hills park Tuesday evening when an undercover officer saw him allegedly commit the act.

He would not talk about the specifics of the case.

"I don't even have a choice about commenting about the specifics, because at the moment it's in the hands of the district attorney," he said in his first public comments since the incident.

But he added, "The truth is I put myself in an extremely stupid and vulnerable position."

Michael talks with CNN's Jim Moret

"I don't feel any shame. I feel stupid and I feel reckless and weak for having allowed my sexuality to be exposed this way. But I don't feel any shame whatsoever," he said, adding that this was not the first time he had acted in a similar "reckless" fashion.

Michael, whose real name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, apologized to his fans for the alleged incident, saying he hoped they would stand by him.

"I just want to let them know that I'm okay," he said.

Michael earned stardom as one-half of the 1980s teeny-bopper duo Wham!, which hit it big with "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Careless Whisper." After the duo broke up, Michael went solo, and saw his 1987 debut album "Faith" sell more than 10 million copies.

His last album, 1996's moody "Older," went to the top of the British charts but got a lukewarm reception in the United States.

In Friday's interview, Michael also said he wanted fans to know that he's always been truthful in his music.

"I've never been reticent in terms of defining my sexuality (in my work). I write about my life," he said. "I do want people to know that the songs that I wrote when I was with women were really about women. And the songs that I've written since have been fairly obvious about men."